05/25/2026
City of Framingham Mayor Charlie Sisitsky speaking at today's Memorial Day ceremony.
Transcript of speech: On this Memorial Day, we gather to honor those who gave their lives in service to our nation, Americans who, across generations, answered the call to defend freedom, often at the ultimate sacrifice.
Here in Framingham, we are connected to that history through Civil War Veteran Conrad Homan, the City’s foremost Medal of Honor recipient.
During the Battle of the Crater in 1864, Homan fought through enemy lines carrying the regimental colors after the rest of the color guard had been killed or captured. For his extraordinary bravery, he received the Medal of Honor, our nation’s highest military decoration.
But Memorial Day is not only about extraordinary acts of heroism. It is also about remembrance, ensuring that those who served and sacrificed are never forgotten.
That spirit of remembrance surrounds us here today.
One hundred years ago this year, Framingham began construction on this very building, not as a Town Hall or a City Hall, but specifically as the Memorial Building.
Built between 1926 and 1928, it was “dedicated in honor of our citizens who served in the nation’s wars and to the welfare of all of our people”.
The people who built this structure understood something important: memorials are not only statues or monuments. Sometimes they are civic spaces, places where democracy is practiced, community gathers, and future generations are reminded of the sacrifices that made our freedoms possible.
For nearly a century, this building has stood as both a center of government and a monument to memory.
As we gather here today, may we honor not only Conrad Homan and Framingham’s Veterans, but all those who never came home. May we remember that the freedoms we enjoy were preserved by generations willing to sacrifice everything for them. And may this Memorial Building continue to remind us, another hundred years from now, that remembrance is itself a sacred responsibility.
